Master Games from Feb 24 to March 2

Under the banner of Master Games Association Uttarakhand, the second sports meet is going to be organised in Dehradun. Players from 28 states are going to take part in 13 games to be conducted under various categories. The sports meet focuses to engage the players of the age 30 and above to be back in the field, the organisers of the event said. The game is slated from February 24 to 27 at Maharana Pratap Sports College and then from February 28 to March 2 at Pavilion Ground, Dehradun.

Giving more details of the upcoming event, the general secretary of master games association Uttarakhand Vinod Kumar said, “We are expecting that around five thousand players from across the country would come and participate in master games this year. We have already received more than a thousand entries. All the big names in sports are taking initiatives to make this a successful event.”

The participants can register online while the last of registration is January 30 and with late fees, it is till February 15. The cost of registration is Rs 700 for the participants of the age of 30 and above while the participants aged 65 and above would pay half of the fees, Kumar said. The participants aged 80 and the people living under the below poverty line would be charged with no registration fee. Around 13 events like archery, athletics, badminton, basketball, football, hockey, table tennis and swimming would be organised for which participants can apply, he further said.

Dwelling on the idea behind the sports meet, senior sports journalist and editor as well as a member of master games association Manmohan Singh said, “The idea behind organising these games is to make a sportspersons never retire. When a sportsperson reaches 30 the people are inclined to think that he/she should retire. I asked myself why things should be so. A sportsperson should be associated with sports till the end comes. Even our motto says that the elderly people should be in the field rather than in the hospital. Our initiative has not only pushed the men but the women are also coming up enthusiastically. This time we are organising it in Dehradun. The Uttarakhand government is very supportive. The government here going out of its way to support us by every means, we are sure that the event would prove to be an extremely successful one.”